How we compare lab test prices

Every price on this site was read from the seller’s own public website. Current data: 79 offers, last checked November 10, 2026.

1. Which sellers we cover

We list online sellers that run affiliate programs. This is a business choice, not a judgement about other sellers: some sellers we don’t list, and free or low-cost public clinics, may charge less. Commission never affects order or labels.

2. Sources

We use official product, fee, FAQ, terms and refund pages from each seller. We do not use third-party comparison articles, review sites or advertising figures as evidence of a price. Each offer links to the page it came from and shows the date we read it.

When a seller’s site refuses our page requests, we don’t work around the block. On the last check that applied to Ulta Lab Tests and Request A Test, so those profiles list no prices.

3. What one offer records

• The exact product name and the markers the seller lists.
• Specimen and method, only when the seller states them.
• The seller (who you pay) and the collection network (Quest Diagnostics or Labcorp). We don’t assume a seller uses both.
• The listed price, each required fee and whether the seller says it’s charged per order or per test.
• Promotions we saw, which we never apply to the comparison.
• Age and state limits, the date checked, and how the price was verified.

4. Totals and unknown fees

A listed total is the product price plus every required fee the seller discloses for that product bought on its own. Taxes and optional services such as in-home collection are excluded.

We classify each offer’s fees:

• Itemized (42 offers): the seller shows the fee beside the price, e.g. “+$6.00 per order physician fee”.
• Included (37 offers): an official page says the price already covers ordering or collection fees.
• Unknown (0 offers): we couldn’t confirm whether checkout adds a fee. These show “Check provider price”, have no total and are never ranked. An unknown fee is never treated as $0.

No total on this site has been confirmed in a checkout yet. Every total is labelled “listed price, not checkout-verified”. If we later confirm a total at checkout, the offer will say so.

5. Like with like

Offers are compared only inside an equivalence group: products with the same contents. A TSH test is separate from a thyroid panel; ApoB alone is separate from a heart panel that includes ApoB; a CBC with differential is grouped only with CBCs with differential; STD panels are grouped by the exact infections covered. Small lab-to-lab differences in calculated values (such as VLDL vs non-HDL in a lipid panel) are noted on the offer.

6. Order and the “lowest listed total” label

• Within a group, offers with known totals come first, lowest total first. Offers without a known total follow. Ties are ordered alphabetically by seller.
• Commission and affiliate status never affect order.
• The “Lowest listed total of N compared” label appears only when at least two offers in the group have known, fresh totals. Ties share the label. It means lowest among the offers on that page, not the cheapest anywhere.

7. Freshness

• The lowest-total label is shown for 30 days after the price check. After that a small script on the page removes it, even if the page hasn’t been rebuilt.
• After 45 days an offer is stale: its total is replaced with “Price check is out of date: check provider price” and it leaves the ranking until re-checked.
• We aim to re-check every offer at least monthly.

8. What we don’t do

• No symptom questionnaires, diagnoses or result interpretation.
• No advice to buy tests you don’t need.
• No ratings, stars, reviews or “best” claims. Provider profiles are desk research from official pages, not firsthand use.